OT: More pics of my Skylark 455

Nice 'Lark Steve. Now that you have that one done are you ready for another project? I am selling my Skylark and Riviera over on V8 Buick.com. Either would make a nice addition.

Eric

"A Guy Named Steve" wrote in news:Mn39d.4774$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Nice, Steve.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

Thanks Eric, actually it's far from done. It needs a real exhaust system, rear rebuilt with a posi, gears, axles, etc..., paint job, interior work, and on and on. Also, the short block is 30 years old and needs to be replaced eventually with balanced/forged stuff.

There's probably as much left to do as has been done. At least I can drive it now!

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455

Thanks Joe,

Hopefully it'll turn some numbers at the track even with the open rear.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455

...and the 30 year old short block :-)

///Mike TS #63

1993 BMW 525i of all the old cars - Newly updated

Yeah, that too.

The guy who helped me (white Skylark in the background) went 12.00 on the samekind of deal. He has a different cam and different compression, along with fresh bearings, but his did alright.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455

Since the carb wasn't tuned right, and I was running the 2.56 open on street tires (on the street), it's hard to get a feel for what it would run.

Plus, I haven't been in anything quicker than a 17 for over a year.

The heads are set up for much more lift than I'm running and a lot more rpm. It still should be strong on the top end. I expect to have more mph than my ET will show (or at least hope to).

I've now had one '66 Skylark 300, one 72 GS350, one 71 GS455 and this 72 Skylark.

I've had 3 notchback 5.0's... I guess I'll be due for a Mustang again some day.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom 455

Steve,

It's coming together I see. What's specs on the 455 -- cam, heads, intake, headers, etc.? Who owns the white Buick in the one pics?

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD

"Patrick" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

news:...

Patrick,

The block is a '76. The heads are '72s. Together they'd normally yield about 8.5:1 compression. The heads have had a little bit of a clean-up cut along with the larger Stage1 valves, which reduce chamber volume a little bit. I would estimate about 9:1 compression, but I didn't do any measuring. The heads have had an extreme amount of port work done to them. The intake ports were raised about 3/8" taller. They had to weld on a little more metal for the gaskets to seal, and I had to use a wood chisel to enlarge the gaskets. The intake was matched to the heads. Together, on a 12.2:1 motor along with a pretty decent sized cam, they went mid 10's. I'm just running stock valve train in them. The cam is a TA Performance 288-96H. With the stock 1.55:1 rockers it measures .499/.509 lift with 230/240 duration at .050. The centerline is 116 degrees, which would hopefully work well with my somewhat lower compression. That seems to be the case as it was pulling almost 15" vacuum at 800 rpm through the Holley 850. The headers are a few year old TA 1 7/8" primary/3" collector headers. The were given to me by someone who had bought them to go on a 4-speed car, but interfered with the Zbar. I guess TA has redesigned them a bit over the years to fix that problem. I got them with a bit of surface rust as they had sat in a garage for the last few years. I had them coated with Satin Titanium from Performance Coatings in Auburn, WA. I like the look of them - very subtle. Right now it's just running a new/rebuilt points distributor. I also have an MSD 6A for it, but that will go on later. The trans is a built TH350 with a Continental converter. The converter should stall in the 2600 - 2800 range with my car. The rear is the original 2.56 open rear. I've got Hotchkis lower trailing arms for it, but they'll go on later too. As of now, it's on borrowed tires as I don't have a set for it. The ones on the rear are the front tires from the white 70 Skylark you see. The fronts are some others that he had. The car has all drum brakes and no power assist.

The white car is Rick Henderson's. He's the person giving me all of the assistance on the car - and forcing me to be meticulous about things as much as possible. His white car was running 11.6's being driven to the track on a 9.3:1 forged/balanced motor with 5300 rpm shift points through 3.42's with

28" tall tires. He broke the crank in half (damn torque anyhow) and it grenaded that motor. He had an old 1970 motor that I had found for him (because I had nowhere to put it myself for $100!). It had sat outside for years before he got it and it sat at his place for two years. As with me, funds to do a shortblock weren't there. He disassembled the motor and cleaned everything. Then he put fresh bearings in the crank and for the cam. The pistons/rings were left as was. He put his Gessler heads on it and the rest of his supporting hardware. Since the factory cast pistons aren't notched, he went with a smaller cam (Comp Cams 280 grind that a friend had- used). He assembled everything and got a trans put together. First time out he went 12.00 and 12.01 with it. He may have hit an 11.9, but he had to hit the brakes in elim's and went 12.04.

That's pretty much the story at this point.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455

So, is there enough room in there for you so stand between the engine and the fender? It looks close :-p

When I first looked at it, it almost looked like there were no inner fenderwells. But after looking closer, you can see them and the flap over the Aarms. Actually it's so tight on the passenger header that we pulled some alignment shims. Hopefully when I have it aligned they can get away without adding them all back. On the driver's side, there's very little room between the header and the steering shaft.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455

Thanks Michael,

Actually the passenger side is straighter, but it has rust through the front fender in an area.

Steve

72 Skylark Custom455